3 ms·
Stronger ≠ heavier. The parameter of interest is specific strength, which is the material's (ultimate tensile strength/density). I forget what the plastic in
by ridgeguy 12y ago
Stronger ≠ heavier.
The parameter of interest is specific strength, which is the material's (ultimate tensile strength/density).
I forget what the plastic in DVDs is, but it could probably be reinforced with carbon fibers (chopped, nanotubes, etc.) to give a useful increase in rotation speed.
- Someone 12y agoYou are right and I am not an structural engineer, but I understand that pure strength isn't the only limiting factor for disk; they start wobbling before they tear apart (http://superuser.com/questions/554717/will-there-ever-be-faster-cd-and-dvd-discs-and-writers http://superuser.com/questions/554717/will-there-ever-be-fas...). That, I think, is more a matter of thickness than of pure tensile strength. Barring the construction of hollow disks, that means heavier ones. Also, now I think a bit more about it: in a 50-speed CD player or a 16-speed DVD player, the edge of the disk moves at about half the speed of sound. Doubling rotation speed would push it over the sound barrier. I guess it would take quite a bit of research to make a CD/DVD/BlueRay player that will work fine at those speeds (a way around that is to make the disk smaller. That would be an option for a disk with the storage density discussed here, but it wouldn't win you more than a factor of four or so, at most)
- JoeAltmaier 12y agoHow about, give up spinning it. Steer the laser, perhaps using phased diffraction patterns, and scan the disk with weightless light?